Fascinatin' Rhythm

OK, I am officially rubbish at this, and I am never going to be any good at it.

A few years ago when I was in a rock band, they gave me a cowbell to play as a chime.  But within a few minutes it was taken away from me, as I was not keeping time.  My beat kept getting faster.

This was the first hint that my sense of rhythm is not what it should be.  Being sacked as a cowbell percussionist was not a very good omen for someone who wants to sing Brazilian music.

To maintain my musical momentum, I've been having some sessions with guitarist Mike.  He always ends up schooling me about my timing - I am not being precise enough with my rhythm.  My songs have a lot of syncopation, and I end up singing "on the beat" when I should be "off".  To make things more confusing, sambas have a pattern of two bars on and two bars off.  And there is often an up-beat at the end of a bar, which feels entirely counter-intuitive to me.  It's important to "land" in the right places, whereas I'm used to a more "conversational" style of singing.

Intellectually, I can understand it.

I can do it sometimes.

I can do it a bit, but I can't sustain it.

I've learned to watch the guitarist's right hand.  The thumb plays the down-beat.

I can follow the rhythm from the sheet music, but I can't feel it.

I would like to be able to just enjoy singing the songs, without worrying about all of this.

You need to be born into it, or immerse yourself in it.

I have an "egg" shaker that Eneias gave me.  I give it a try, and it makes me feel clumsy and ridiculous.  Following his suggestion, I search YouTube for some instructional videos.  These give me a bit more confidence and make me feel less like Mr Bean, but my shaking is still quite...shaky.

It is really frustrating.

Mike draws patterns of syncopation on the back of an envelope and vocalises each one.  I concentrate really hard on what he is telling me.  I record it on my phone, but when I get home I can't quite work out what he's doing.

"Maybe you will get it when you go to Brazil", he says.

I think he despairs of me.

I try to keep time by beating with my foot, or by tapping my hand against my thigh, but it's hard to keep the beat steady whilst singing against it.  I end up adapting the rhythm to match what I'm singing.  "You're moving the goalposts", he says - that means I'm cheating, I guess.  He shows me how to create an off-beat by placing my right hand on the table and holding my left one above it like a roof, so my right hand can make contact with something on the off-beat, rather than just flailing in the air.

That night I go to hear his group play Brazilian music.  I am hoping to absorb the rhythm by osmosis.  He dedicates a song to a friend who is in the room.  Later, I ask him to play a song for me - "Something off-beat?"  It takes a moment for him to get the joke, but then we laugh.

Maybe I will "get it" when I go to Brazil.